Durham shuts out PawSox, ends dream of Governor’s Cup repeat

Saturday

Sep 14, 2013 at 10:04 PM

PAWTUCKET — Champagne bottles were popping at McCoy Stadium Saturday night, but this time the bubbly was flowing in the visitors’ clubhouse.Powered by a stellar performance from starter Merrill Kelly and...

By CAROLYN THORNTON

PAWTUCKET — Champagne bottles were popping at McCoy Stadium Saturday night, but this time the bubbly was flowing in the visitors’ clubhouse.

Powered by a stellar performance from starter Merrill Kelly and helped by some solid relief from former Hendricken star and Johnston native Jeff Beliveau, the Durham Bulls clinched the International League Championship with a 7-0 victory over the defending champion Pawtucket Red Sox in game four of the 81st annual Governors’ Cup finals.

“It’s awesome,” said the 26-year-old Beliveau, who spent the season with Durham after being acquired from the Texas Rangers by the Tampa Bay Rays in April. “We’ve had a great group of guys all year. We play hard and we all work hard. Just guys doing little things, playing their roles and it all came together. We played well.”

Pawtucket, which last season celebrated its first Governors’ Cup title in 28 years with a three-game sweep of the Charlotte Knights, opened its title defense in Durham, N.C. There, the I.L.-North champions opened the best-of-five series with a 2-1 victory, only to have the I.L.-South champion Bulls come back the next night and even things up, also with a 2-1 win.

The teams headed north for Game Three on Friday night at McCoy, where they became entrenched in the longest playoff game in PawSox history and the second-longest game in the history of the Governors’ Cup finals. After 5 hours and 42 minutes, Durham emerged victorious, snapping a scoreless tie in the 14th, again with two unearned runs, to win it, 2-0.

There was far less suspense on Saturday, as Durham banged out 12 hits to Pawtucket’s two, both singles by Jonathan Diaz.

“They deserve it,” PawSox manager Gary DiSarcina said of the Bulls, who now move on to play in the Triple-A championship. “They dominated us. They shut us down. What can you say.”

Durham, which scored just five runs through the first three games (over a total of 31 innings), also had the benefit of more timely offense on Saturday, establishing a 4-0 lead after just three innings.

Pawtucket starter Charlie Haeger gave up a two-out walk to Tim Beckham in the first inning, followed by back-to-back hits, with Jason Bourgeois’ single up the middle scoring Beckham.

The 29-year-old knuckleballer then surrendered a two-run homer to Kevin Kiermaier in the second.

Brandon Guyer tripled with two outs in the third and went on to score on Shelley Duncan’s double to left to put the Bulls up, 4-0.

Durham picked up three more runs in the sixth, the first on an RBI triple by Mike Fontenot off reliever Brock Huntzinger. After Terry Doyle replaced Huntzinger on the mound, Kiermaier and Cole Figuero followed with run-scoring singles to make it 7-0.

Meanwhile, Kelly — who helped the Bulls complete their three-game sweep of Indianapolis in the first round of the playoffs — enjoyed another great outing, tossing a two-hitter with seven strikeouts, zero walks and one hit batter over six innings.

Beliveau, who had more than a few fans cheering for him in the crowd of 5,833, given his Rhode Island roots, took over for Kelly in the seventh and retired the side with two strikeouts and a popup in foul territory. The southpaw struck out Jeremy Hazelbaker to start the eighth before being relieved by Steve Geltz.

Geltz finished up that inning and lefty Adam Liberatore took care of the ninth, extending Pawtucket’s streak of scoreless innings to 29.

“I came in and got a few outs. I felt good tonight,” Belliveau said after celebrating with his teammates on the field, where they doused each other with champagne before accepting the Governors’ Cup trophy. “It’s always nice to come out and pitch in front of my family. A lot of them, the last time I was here [in May] was their first time watching me pitch in pro ball, and I’ve been in pro ball for like five years. It’s nice for them to come out and see me again. They give me a good homecoming when I come back.”

Ten years and three days ago — on Sept. 11, 2003, — Durham completed a sweep of the PawSox in the Governors’ Cup finals at McCoy. The Bulls also won the I.L. title in 2002 and 2009.